Professor Christina Mitchell AO elected as a 2025 Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
Professor Christina Mitchell AO elected as a 2025 Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
Distinguished physician-scientist and Executive Dean of Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Professor Christina Mitchell AO has been elected as a 2025 Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. Professor Mitchell has been recognised for her fundamental discoveries in biochemistry in the field of intracellular signalling.
Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science are among the nation’s most distinguished scientists, elected by their peers for their outstanding contributions to science and research. From 1954 to 2025, there have been 965 Fellows elected to the Academy. Professor Mitchell is one of 26 new Fellows welcomed to the Academy this year, and joins Professor Jessica Purcell from the Faculty of Science as one of two Monash University researchers elected.
Professor Mitchell is a physician-scientist specialising in clinical haematology. Her research focuses on the characterisation of the metabolic pathways that regulate phosphoinositide signalling in human cancer. She leads one of the top phosphoinositide research groups worldwide and is the leading researcher in her field in Australia. She has published over 150 papers, has an h-index of 66 and has 11,000+ citations.
She has made fundamental discoveries in biochemistry in the field of intracellular signalling by characterising families of signal-regulating enzymes, including the inositol-polyphosphate 5-phosphatases, and 4-phosphatases (INPP4A and B). Her laboratory demonstrated the regulation of phosphoinositide signalling by these enzymes, showing their intracellular location and revealing the substrate specificity of phosphoinositide phosphatases. Her group determined the 5-phosphatase catalytic domain that enabled identification of all ten 5-phosphatase family members and demonstrated their cellular roles in development, cell proliferation and cytoskeletal dynamics.
Professor Mitchell has been awarded over $30 million as Lead Chief Investigator from funding bodies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Australian Research Council, the National Breast Cancer Foundation and mRNA Victoria. She received the Sir John Monash Distinguished Professorship at Monash University in 2010 and was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2014. In 2015, she was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women and received the Lemberg Medal for Excellence in Biochemistry from the Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 2019, she was bestowed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to medicine in the field of haematology, medical education and research and academic leadership. In 2024, she was inducted into the Monash Honour Roll.
Professor Mitchell is Council Chair, Monash Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre, a member of the Alfred Health and Hudson Institute of Medical Research boards and the Co-Chair of The Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation Medical Advisory Board.
Professor Mitchell has also made substantial contributions to research leadership, building research excellence, and mentoring early-career and women researchers. She was appointed Executive Dean of Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences in 2011, and has overseen its unprecedented growth in research and education activity, revenue and impact. She was the first woman to be appointed Dean of Medicine of a Go8 University in Australia.
Professor Mitchell said that it was an honour to be elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. “I’m deeply grateful to my peers for this recognition and proud to contribute to Australia’s scientific community through both discovery and leadership,” she said.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) and Senior Vice-President, Professor Robyn Ward AM, congratulated Professor Mitchell on her fellowship.
"Professor Mitchell’s election to the Australian Academy of Science is a testament to her outstanding research, visionary leadership and deep commitment to improving human health.” Professor Ward said. “To have led for more than a decade one of Australia’s premier medical faculties through a period of extraordinary growth and excellence while continuing to pursue world-leading discovery research and mentor the next generation of scientists is a truly remarkable achievement.”
GENERAL MEDIA ENQUIRIES
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Committed to making discoveries that will relieve the future burden of disease, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University brings together more than 120 internationally renowned research teams. Spanning seven discovery programs across Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Development and Stem Cells, Infection, Immunity, Metabolism, Diabetes and Obesity, and Neuroscience, Monash BDI is one of the largest biomedical research institutes in Australia. Our researchers are supported by world-class technology and infrastructure, and partner with industry, clinicians and researchers internationally to enhance lives through discovery.